Lesson in givebacks

Published 12:01 am, Monday, April 25, 2011

Any discussion of teachers unions quickly turns into a debate about whether they have given too much or not enough at a time when school dollars are scarce.

A review of some concessions made by teachers unions in local districts for the 2011-12 budget year reveals a wide disparity. Teachers gave up nothing in some districts and agreed to pay freezes in others to save members' jobs. Statewide, about 200 of 700 school districts have negotiated concessions, although some of those talks did not go anywhere, according to New York State United Teachers.

In Bethlehem, teachers froze their pay for part of the year to save $1.2 million.

"We felt this was the first year where, if all these staff cuts had gone through, we would not have been able to provide the same educational program we did in the past," said David Rounds, president of the Bethlehem Teachers Association.

Teachers unions have been vilified as the cause of escalating school district budgets. The pensions, health care coverage and guaranteed raises of 5 percent or more a year enjoyed by public school employees have raised the ire of many private-sector workers who pay teacher salaries through their property taxes. Public school teachers and their supporters have countered that state politicians are looking to balance budgets on their backs and that they make far less in a classroom than someone with a master's degree could elsewhere.

School taxes are the largest part of the average property tax bill, and about 70 percent of the average school district's budget is employee costs. With the promise of a 2 percent property tax cap next year lingering, districts will be under even more pressure to squeeze concessions from their employees.

School district budgets will be decided upon by voters on May 17.

Despite a year of intense pressure, most local teacher unions did not offer the sort of significant concessions that would allow districts to weather the next few budget seasons, which are expected to be worse than this year.

Among those who made concessions to save jobs and taxpayers' money were Watervliet educators, who increased their health care contributions from 0 to 10 percent, and Troy teachers, who saved about 25 positions through a wage freeze.

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Also, in Rotterdam's Mohonasen district, teachers saved $450,000 to restore 24 of 44 proposed job cuts by accepting a one-year pay freeze, said Maria Pacheco, Mohonasen Teachers Association president. She said her members were motivated by what they saw as a dismantling of public education in their district, as well as a sustained assault on their profession by critics who claimed teachers were greedy.

"By not doing something, we would not be confronting the negative media out there about teachers," she said. "That's not who we are."

But in many other districts, if concessions were offered, they did little to help the district's bottom line. In Averill Park, the union offered a "soft freeze" that would have delayed salary increases for a year, then built the missed pay into the next year's compensation. Shenendehowa teachers agreed to a one-year pay freeze, in exchange for a no-layoffs clause, but district officials said they could not afford the offer and trimmed 72 jobs.

Bethlehem's Rounds said Gov. Andrew Cuomo and politicians across the country demonized teachers and other public employees to force their hand during negotiations, even though many were receptive to the financial hardships of their communities.

Local taxpayers are increasingly demanding that teachers make the sort of concessions that were unheard of just three years ago, including full pay freezes and health benefit contribution increases. Mark Keefe, an Averill Park parent, recently started a website, www.aptaxpayers.com, to draw attention to what he calls the unrestrained spending of a school board that he feels is dominated by the teachers union.

"They're just not interested in negotiating," he said.

Keefe and a groundswell of taxpayers feel their interests are not being represented during tense budget negotiations because school boards largely comprise union-approved candidates.

Unwillingness to budge at the bargaining table, by union and district leaders, means too many talented teachers will lose their jobs because decisions are based on seniority, not ability, said Evan Stone, co-founder of Educators 4 Excellence. The group of educators advocates for the end of last-in, first-out seniority rules.

Stone said it won't be only young teachers who are knocked out of the classroom. Also forced away will be experienced educators, some with 15 years or more, who have relocated to New York from other states and are at the bottom of the seniority list.

"We're going to lose great teachers; that's inevitable," he said. "We're not looking at their abilities when we make these decisions."

School boards, including for the Albany, Shenendehowa and Niskayuna districts, took the unusual step of passing motions that requested their unions take a wage freeze to stave off layoffs. Though such bargaining-table conversations typically take place behind closed doors, teachers unions can expect more public pressure next year as the economic recovery continues at a glacial pace.